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What about that dude who they put in jail for open sourcing software he developed in a personal side project while under contract with them? Didn't they like

What about that dude who they put in jail for open sourcing software he developed in a personal side project while under contract with them? Didn't they like completely throw the book at him by charging him under that completely insane law the Computer Fraud Act?

infinite8s 8y ago
You have a citation? The only case I know about is a programmer who ftp'd a whole bunch of internal code to a site in Germany before his last day of work.
- strgcmc 8y ago
  Sergey Aleynikov: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergey_Aleynikov https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergey_Aleynikov
- Havoc 8y ago
  Yeah that one. Was internal code (well derived from code off stackflow) but completely harmless. The response - GS getting the FBI to go after him was wildly disproportionate.
  - tptacek 8y ago
    You sound like someone who definitely has a lot of the surrounding context and some of the intimate details of this story. Can you tell us more?
    - Naga 8y ago
      Michael Lewis writes about him in Flash Boys, his book from a few years ago.
    - qohen 8y ago
      Michael Lewis wrote an article about Sergey Aleynikov for Vanity Fair which led him later to write, "Flash Boys" -- it's online and worth your time [0]. Some interesting bits include: * Advice and information that could keep a programmer out of jail. * There's the description of Aleynikov's jailhouse enlightenment -- there is no other word for it -- e.g. what his lawyer says: “Every time I would come to visit him in jail, I would leave energized by him,” she says. “He radiated so much energy and positive emotions that it was like therapy for me, to visit him. His eyes opened to how the world really is. And he started talking to people. For the first time! He would say: People in jail have the best stories. He could have considered himself a tragedy. And he didn’t.” * There's the discussion of how no one involved (except Aleynikov) actually understood anything about the case and how Aleynikov's attempts to help clarify things were used against him. * And, then, there's the piece de resistance, where Michael Lewis convenes a jury of cynical programmers -- i.e. some people who actually have a clue -- to meet Aleynikov and judge his actions (spoiler: their cynicism about the case is replaced with incredulity when they talk to him and realize he didn't care about Goldman Sach's "secret sauce" trading algorithms, etc.). (Also, Lewis discusses his article in a Q&A in Vanity Fair [1] where he gets to talk about his own reaction to it all). Again, well worth your time. [0] https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2013/09/michael-lewis-goldman-sachs-programmer https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2013/09/michael-lewis-goldma... [1] https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2013/08/michael-lewis-on-goldman-sachs-programmer https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2013/08/michael-lewis-on-gol...
      - harryh 8y ago
        I dunno about this one essay, but let's all remember that Flash Boys is a very bad book that gets almost everything wrong. Read the extensive rebuttal for all the details: https://www.amazon.com/Flash-Boys-Insiders-Perspective-High-Frequency-ebook/dp/B00P0QI2M2 https://www.amazon.com/Flash-Boys-Insiders-Perspective-High-...
pytyper2 8y ago
How did you get it so wrong? Was this a dream you had?
rayiner 8y ago
That account is quite different from what actually happened. See my comment on this: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9044805 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9044805. In particular, the claim that he was "open sourcing software he developed in a personal side project" turned out to be a self-serving fabrication. From the Second Circuit's opinion: > Aleynikov’s last day at Goldman was June 5, 2009. At approximately 5:20 p.m., just before his going-away party, Aleynikov encrypted and uploaded to a server in Germany more than 500,000 lines of source code for Goldman’s HFT system, including code for a substantial part of the infrastructure, and some of the algorithms and market data connectivity programs. > Aleynikov also transferred some open source software licensed for use by the public that was mixed in with Goldman's proprietary code. However, a substantially greater number of the uploaded files contained proprietary code than had open source software. It's the high-tech version of a man accused of murdering his wife giving the excuse "I swear, I thought I was shooting at a burglar that had broken into our bedroom!" Note also that while Aleynikov's conviction was vacated by the Second Circuit, it was because of a loophole. The Second Circuit decided that stolen source code did not count as a "stolen good" under the Economic Espionage Act. (Congress corrected that loophole the same year.)

infinite8s 8y ago

You have a citation? The only case I know about is a programmer who ftp'd a whole bunch of internal code to a site in Germany before his last day of work.

strgcmc 8y ago
Sergey Aleynikov: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergey_Aleynikov https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergey_Aleynikov
Havoc 8y ago
Yeah that one. Was internal code (well derived from code off stackflow) but completely harmless. The response - GS getting the FBI to go after him was wildly disproportionate.
- tptacek 8y ago
  You sound like someone who definitely has a lot of the surrounding context and some of the intimate details of this story. Can you tell us more?
  - Naga 8y ago
    Michael Lewis writes about him in Flash Boys, his book from a few years ago.
  - qohen 8y ago
    Michael Lewis wrote an article about Sergey Aleynikov for Vanity Fair which led him later to write, "Flash Boys" -- it's online and worth your time [0]. Some interesting bits include: * Advice and information that could keep a programmer out of jail. * There's the description of Aleynikov's jailhouse enlightenment -- there is no other word for it -- e.g. what his lawyer says: “Every time I would come to visit him in jail, I would leave energized by him,” she says. “He radiated so much energy and positive emotions that it was like therapy for me, to visit him. His eyes opened to how the world really is. And he started talking to people. For the first time! He would say: People in jail have the best stories. He could have considered himself a tragedy. And he didn’t.” * There's the discussion of how no one involved (except Aleynikov) actually understood anything about the case and how Aleynikov's attempts to help clarify things were used against him. * And, then, there's the piece de resistance, where Michael Lewis convenes a jury of cynical programmers -- i.e. some people who actually have a clue -- to meet Aleynikov and judge his actions (spoiler: their cynicism about the case is replaced with incredulity when they talk to him and realize he didn't care about Goldman Sach's "secret sauce" trading algorithms, etc.). (Also, Lewis discusses his article in a Q&A in Vanity Fair [1] where he gets to talk about his own reaction to it all). Again, well worth your time. [0] https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2013/09/michael-lewis-goldman-sachs-programmer https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2013/09/michael-lewis-goldma... [1] https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2013/08/michael-lewis-on-goldman-sachs-programmer https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2013/08/michael-lewis-on-gol...
    - harryh 8y ago
      I dunno about this one essay, but let's all remember that Flash Boys is a very bad book that gets almost everything wrong. Read the extensive rebuttal for all the details: https://www.amazon.com/Flash-Boys-Insiders-Perspective-High-Frequency-ebook/dp/B00P0QI2M2 https://www.amazon.com/Flash-Boys-Insiders-Perspective-High-...

pytyper2 8y ago

How did you get it so wrong? Was this a dream you had?

rayiner 8y ago

That account is quite different from what actually happened. See my comment on this: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9044805 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9044805. In particular, the claim that he was "open sourcing software he developed in a personal side project" turned out to be a self-serving fabrication. From the Second Circuit's opinion: > Aleynikov’s last day at Goldman was June 5, 2009. At approximately 5:20 p.m., just before his going-away party, Aleynikov encrypted and uploaded to a server in Germany more than 500,000 lines of source code for Goldman’s HFT system, including code for a substantial part of the infrastructure, and some of the algorithms and market data connectivity programs. > Aleynikov also transferred some open source software licensed for use by the public that was mixed in with Goldman's proprietary code. However, a substantially greater number of the uploaded files contained proprietary code than had open source software. It's the high-tech version of a man accused of murdering his wife giving the excuse "I swear, I thought I was shooting at a burglar that had broken into our bedroom!" Note also that while Aleynikov's conviction was vacated by the Second Circuit, it was because of a loophole. The Second Circuit decided that stolen source code did not count as a "stolen good" under the Economic Espionage Act. (Congress corrected that loophole the same year.)